High School category, Page 762
Laurel Highlands lives up to hype, knocks off Belle Vernon
Not often does pomp and circumstance surround an ordinary nonsection boys basketball game in the middle of January. Wednesday’s showdown between Class 4A No. 2 Belle Vernon and Class 5A No. 1 Laurel Highlands wasn’t your ordinary affair, though. And it lived up to the hype. With the game tied...
Franklin Regional wrestling bumps off Penn-Trafford in showdown for first place
Franklin Regional found itself trailing Penn-Trafford with six bouts remaining Wednesday, but a couple of moves by coach Matt Lebe proved to be the difference. Consecutive pins by Nate Stone, Ben Pekarcik and Finn Solomon helped Franklin Regional rally to defeat Penn-Trafford, 43-29, in a WPIAL Class AAA Section 1-B...
Apollo-Ridge girls defeat St. Joseph in game between teams battling rust
Apollo-Ridge and St. Joseph did something Wednesday night they rarely had done this month: play a basketball game. Despite all the down time, the Vikings girls didn’t lose their free-throw shooting touch. Apollo-Ridge shot 30 of 40 from the free-throw line and posted a 66-55 victory in a home nonsection...
Apollo-Ridge girls team playing beyond its years
With no seniors on its roster, the youthful Apollo-Ridge girls basketball team took a wait-and-see attitude into the season with hopes of making an impact in and out of Section 4-2A. So far, the veteran presence for the Vikings has meshed well with newer varsity talent to produce a 10-2...
Westmoreland girls basketball notebook: Yough making major strides
Scores can be indicative of how far struggling programs have come — a measurement of improvement. For Yough, three results stand out on the schedule. The Cougars (3-9, 1-3 heading into Wednesday night’s game against No. 4 Southmoreland) did not win any of the three — they weren’t favored to...
Norwin girls basketball team shows grit, chemistry
When Norwin lost promising junior Savannah Schneck to an ACL injury for the second straight year, the girls basketball team quickly regrouped. It had little choice in the matter, but it regrouped nonetheless. The season was about to start, and the Knights began to shine a spotlight around to see...
WPIAL announces 2022 Hall of Fame class
Bob Kalp won more than 400 games as Hempfield’s softball coach, and Chuck Tursky celebrated his 500th career win as Kiski Area’s wrestling coach. Those are remarkable numbers, and they set them apart from their peers, yet the wins only partially explain why they’re among the best coaches in WPIAL...
WPIAL board blocks Butler from District 10 football playoffs
The WPIAL two years ago gave Butler permission to play football in District 10 as an “associate member,” but there now is a dispute about whether the Golden Tornado can qualify for that district’s playoffs. The WPIAL board says no, they can’t. “They are welcome to get an independent schedule,”...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Jan. 19, 2022: Hall of Fame class to be unveiled
It is the highest honor an athlete, a coach or a team can achieve: being elected to a Hall of Fame. That honor will come to several folks Wednesday when District 7 officials announce the inductees into the WPIAL Hall of Fame, Class of 2022. The WPIAL will unveil the...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Jan. 18, 2022
High School Basketball Boys Tuesday’s results Class 6A Section 1 Pine-Richland 66, Butler 65 North Hills 63, Seneca Valley 40 Section 2 Baldwin 86, Bethel Park 66 Canon-McMillan 57, Peters Township 44 Upper St. Clair 48, Mt. Lebanon 46 Section 3 Fox Chapel 54, Central Catholic 37 Hempfield 82, Greensburg...
High school roundup for Jan. 18, 2022: New Castle trips up Chartiers Valley again
Mike Wells scored 29 points to lead New Castle to a 68-59 victory over Chartiers Valley in a rematch of last year’s WPIAL championship game in Section 2-5A boys basketball Tuesday night. Isiah Boyce added 21 points for No. 2 New Castle (9-1, 5-0). Jayden Davis led Chartiers Valley (3-9,...
Upper St. Clair’s Tanner O’Grady shoots down Mt. Lebanon with buzzer-beater
Following the winter storm on Sunday, snowmen made appearances on many landscapes throughout the district. On Tuesday, it was time for the iceman to reappear. Upper St. Clair senior Tanner O’Grady hit his second buzzer-beating shot of the season, this time breaking a tie as time expired as USC defeated...
Penn-Trafford puts clamps on Norwin during Section 3-6A victory
Penn-Trafford could have praised its offensive play, particularly its long-range shooting — after holding back rival Norwin. But the Warriors were more about what they did on the other end of the floor following a 56-45 victory over the Knights in Section 3-6A. While a strong shooting start was a...
Fox Chapel defense shuts down Central Catholic in boys Section 3-6A showdown
Fox Chapel takes pride in its defense. But not the players nor the most ardent fans could have expected an effort like Tuesday’s. The No. 2 Foxes held No. 3 Central Catholic to just 16 points over three quarters, including a scoreless stretch of 8 minutes, 14 seconds en route...
Knoch girls top Freeport, stay unbeaten in section
The Knoch girls basketball team keeps rolling along in Section 1-4A. Last week, the Knights took care of business, beating Highlands by 17 points in a battle of section unbeatens with first place on the line. On Tuesday at home, Knoch produced another fast start, this time against rival Freeport....
Wrestling notebook: Latrobe finally returns home after successful Colorado trip
The Latrobe wrestling team is finally back home after a success weekend in Denver. The Wildcats got to spend an extra day in the Mile High City because their flight from Denver on Sunday was canceled because of the snowstorm that hit Western Pa. But the team had to wait...
Trib HSSN Girls Basketball State Rankings for Jan. 18, 2022
There were several state ranked girls basketball teams that tasted defeat this past, but only a few slipped out of the Trib HSSN state Top 5. There were several cases of teams losing to teams from out of state or from higher classifications that did not affect their ranking, or...
Trib HSSN Boys Basketball State Rankings for Jan. 18, 2022
As the winter storm has come and gone, most of the teams in the weekly Trib HSSN boys basketball state rankings have remained the same. Only two teams fell out of the Top 5 in their respective classifications, one in Class 5A and the other in 3A. Cathedral Prep is...
Wrestling teams jockey for position in WPIAL team tournament
The upcoming WPIAL Team Tournament will feature some minor changes as the section regular season ends Wednesday. The top two finishers in each sub-section advance to the section tournament. There is no fifth-place match between third-place finishers. “We originally did it to give teams extra matches,” WPIAL committee chairman Frank...
WPIAL reveals updated conference alignments for 2022, 2023 seasons
The WPIAL took a multiple-choice approach when it drew up new conferences for the 2022 and ‘23 football seasons. Aliquippa’s classification remains undecided, so the WPIAL board on Tuesday approved two realignment options for Class 5A, 4A and 3A football — one with Aliquippa and one without — with only...
Trib HSSN WPIAL Team Wrestling Rankings as of Jan. 17, 2022
Class 3A Team (record) and previous week’s ranking 1. Waynesburg (9-0) 1 2. Latrobe (6-0) 2 3. Connellsville (13-0) 3 4. West Allegheny (7-1) 4 5. Canon-McMillan (8-1) 5 6. Kiski Area (10-3) 6 7. Franklin Regional (3-0) 7 8. Hempfield (2-1) 8 9. Penn-Trafford (5-2) 9 10. Butler (7-1)...
Trib HSSN WPIAL Individual Wrestling Rankings: Week of Jan. 17, 2022
Trib HSSN individual wrestling rankings as of Jan. 17, 2022: Class 3A 106: 1. Luke Willochell (Latrobe) 23-3; 2. Nico Fanella (Indiana) 10-0; 3. Ty Kapusta (Franklin Regional) 13-5; 4. Casey Walker (North Allegheny) 20-8; 5. Rylen Campbell (Plum) 18-4. 113: Ty Chappell (Seneca Valley) 16-3; 2. 3. Leo Joseph...
Led by Schrecengost sisters, Freeport swimming aiming high
Nikki Heasley has a golden reason to be optimistic about her Freeport swimming team. Heasley, in her 11th year as the team’s coach, returns one of the top female swimmers in the WPIAL, Lexi Schrecengost. Last season, Schrecengost took first in the girls 100-yard breaststroke and finished fourth in the...
Burrell swimmers take aim at WPIAL qualifying times
The Burrell swim teams still are recovering from last year’s pandemic. “We are just happy to have a full season,” coach Samantha Callen said. “Last year was quite challenging. Our swimmers have been working extra hard to achieve the goals that were not met last year. This season is going...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Jan. 18, 2022: WPIAL board set to unveil realignment
A lot more eyes than usual will be on the monthly WPIAL board of control meeting Tuesday. The board will finalize the new conference alignment for all fall sports, including football, soccer, golf, cross country, girls volleyball, girls tennis and field hockey. Each sport’s steering committee met after the PIAA...
